Arrowhead is trying to get back on fans’ good side (YouTube)
Arrowhead is in damage control mode as its CEO surveys Helldivers 2 fans about a new warbond and ‘unplayable’ balancing changes.
Things haven’t gone very smoothly for Helldivers 2 lately and there are two reasons for that. One is Sony demanding players link their Steam accounts to the PlayStation Network (PSN), which sparked fan outrage and resulted in the publisher later reversing its decision.
The other reason is fans losing interest in the game, because too many weapons are being nerfed by developer Arrowhead, killing the fun of the third person shooter.
Now Arrowhead CEO and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt is letting fans vote on if it’s ‘tone deaf’ to release a new warbond so soon after the PSN debacle. He also admits that balancing changes have gone too far, saying, ‘It feels like everytime someone finds something fun, the fun is removed.’
Pilestedt posted a poll on Twitter, saying: ‘With the negative sentiment around account linking, a concern from the team came up about ‘Is it tone deaf to release a new (paid) warbond this soon?’
Fans could vote on releasing the new warbond as planned today, or delaying it, and the former won with 73.9% of the votes.
It’s not uncommon to see Pilestedt interacting with fans on Twitter, but he’s been especially active in the last few days, as he’s been taking feedback from many fans complaining about recent weapon nerfs.
One fan told the CEO on Twitter: ‘I don’t know what to say, these past months of balancing changes has made the game basically unplayable for me. Sad to see balance changes come over the priority of fun.’
Pilestedt promised to look into it, saying: ‘Hey, yeah I think we’ve gone too far in some areas. Will talk to the team about the approach to balance. It feels like everytime someone finds something fun, the fun is removed.’
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The PSN controversy saw over 200,000 angry fans review bomb the game, which tanked the Helldivers 2’s score on Steam so badly that other fans decided to try to restore its reputation with positive reviews.
Also, a Helldivers 2 community manager got fired, after encouraging fans to review bomb the game and ask for refunds.
As a result the game slipped down Steam’s most played charts but as of today it’s back in the top 10.
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